We’re celebrating these successes, which are driving our economy, by sharing more results from American Express OPEN’s study The State of Women-Owned Businesses. This week, we want to highlight industries in which women are thriving, some of the very same sectors we might not have seen women enter into in past generations. We also point out some sectors where there is opportunity for growth. Of particular note is the healthcare industry, in which women-owned firms dominate, with ownership of 53 percent of the firms in this sector. Education is another strong sector for women: Some 45 percent of educational firms are owned by women, while on a national scale, 29 percent of all firms are owned by women.

In fact, this group is overcoming the notion that certain sectors were traditionally, or non-traditionally, for women.

Industry Dominance

Women aren’t just testing the waters in certain sectors; they are outpacing their peers in terms of growth. Women-owned firms are exceeding overall sector growth rates in 7 of 13 of the most populous industries including wholesale trade, finance and insurance, real estate, health care and social assistance, construction and arts/entertainment/recreation. This growth is also being funded more independently, with relatively less debt risk, as only 5.5 percent of women-owned businesses used a loan to start their businesses, compared with 10.7 percent of all firms.

So where is the potential growth for women? Women are still under-represented in a few sectors like finance, with only 20 percent of finance and insurance firms being women-owned. Construction is also an under-represented area where just 8 percent of construction firms are women-owned.

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Allison Silver is the vice president of brand, advertising and advocacy for American Express OPEN, a role in which her responsibilities include oversight of “OPEN Women’s Business Initiative" and “Victory in Procurement,” as well as other programs designed to advance OPEN’s mission of helping small business do more business.